Exploring overlooked farm forest treasures: Unveiling macrofungaldiversity of eastern Nepal

Abstract

Farm forests are the privately-owned forest patches, which forms an integral part of farmer’s livelihood. However, study of biodiversity of these forests has been largely neglected, where macrofungi are also one of the important treasures of these forests. The study was aimed to explore macrofungal diversity in the farm forests in Sandakpur-3, Koshi Province, Eastern Nepal. An opportunistic sampling method was used to explore the macrofungal diversity and ecology. Findings revealed fifty-seven macrofungal species, with fifty-one belonging to Basidiomycota and six to Ascomycota. Agaricales (32 species) was the dominant order followed by Polyporales (8 species), Russulales (4 species) while the less diverse orders were Cantharellales, Geastrales, Helotiales, Hypocreales and Thelephorales with single macrofungal species. Physalacriaceae and Polyporaceae were most frequent family representing four
species. Macrofungal species were classified based on ecology, with saprophytic fungi (forty-three species) being the most abundant, followed by mycorrhizal (twelve), parasitic (one), and entomophilous (one) species. Edibility assessment revealed twenty-five edible species, eighteen inedible species, two poisonous species and twelve species of undetermined status. These findings emphasize the significant role of privately-owned farm forests in supporting fungal diversity and recommends further research in farm forests for sustainable management of forest products and to promote biodiversity conservation.